Improvement in station-indicators



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH BUTCHER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN STATION-INDICATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 217,198, dated July 8,1879 application filed 1 November 5, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,JosEP1-1 BUTCHER, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain Improvements in Station- Annunciators,of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to announce to the occupants of a car orconveyance the name or designation of the neXt station orstreet-crossing ahead in the line of travel, so that they may not becarried beyond the point at which they Wish to get off 5 and it relatesto a device to be operated automatically or by hand, arranged to exhibitto the passenger in the conveyance the name or number of the nextstation ahead. It also provides for sounding a bell or gong, or theirequivalent, at the moment the change takes place, so as to attract theattention of the occupants of the car.

The entire apparatus is adapted to operate equally well whether the carbe run backward or forward, and to operate automatically, all as will behereinafter set forth.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front, and Fig. 2 is an end, elevation ofmy annunciator on a small scale. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on alarge scale, taken in the plane of the line 00 :0, Fig. 8. Fig. 4. is atransverse section taken in the plane of the line y 3 Fig. 8. Fig. 5 isa transverse section in the plane of the line 2 2, Fig. 8. Figs. 6 and 7are enlarged detail views of the cam and notched wheel.

is a rear elevation, showing the interior inech- Fig. 8

pants.

0 is a roller mounted in hearings in the end plates of the casing; and DD are rollers hung in a frame, E, pivoted in slots at the'ends of thecasing. The roller 0 should, by preference, be roughened or renderedtractive on its surface. This may be done by means of a coating of emeryor grit, or by an india-rubber surface.

F is a strip on which are printed or otherwise marked the names ornumbers to designate stations or streets on the line of travel. The endsof this strip are attached one to each of the rollers D, and the bightpasses around the roller 0.

By turning the roller 0 the strip is caused to roll upon one of therollers l) and unroll from the other. To facilitate this operation, acord or thread, a, preferably of catg'ut, is arranged 'to wind from oneroller to the other, winding upon the roller as the strip unwindstherefrom.

To keep the strip taut and in close contact with' the roller 0, as wellas to compensate for the increasing and decreasing diameters of therollers as the strip winds and unwinds therefrom, the frame E is hung onpivots at the ends, and is acted upon by yielding springs b 11, securedto the casing and arranged topress upon the frame at the corners orelsewhere.

By rotating the roller (3 the names on the strip F may be brought insuccession to an opening at c in the front of the case, so as to beeasily read by the occupants of the car. This rotation is producedintermittently by means of the following-described mechanism: I To theend of the roller 0 is attached a wheel, G, (see Fig. 3,) with notchesor recesses at d in its periphery, whereby it and the roller arerotated. Thebottoms of these notches are rounded, and are somewhat widerthan the the wheel G by a spring, f, or its equivalent.

The pawl is arranged to stand normally a little outof the plane of theWheel G, so that to engage the notches the head must be sprung orpressed over laterally. To accomplish this a cam, I, is provided,constructed substantially as represented in Figs. 6 and 7. essentiallyof an oblique cam-groove, which deflects the pawl to the plane of thewheel G, as well as raises it to the level of its periphery, so that thenose may drop into the notch coincident therewith.

When engaged the pawl drives the wheel around, the wall of thecam-groove interpos- This consists ing to prevent the escape of the noselaterally, and the peculiar shape of the nose and notch prevents it fromlifting out. Just as the stroke of the pawl is terminated the notchcontaining the nose of the pawl passes the end of the wall of thecam-groove, and the elasticity of the pawl-stem e forces the noselaterally from the notch into the lower end of the camgroove. On thepawl being released it is again driven up the groove, and its nose dropsinto the next notch, ready for the succeeding stroke.

The cam I is double, as will be seen, to enable the pawl to rotate theroller in either direction.

The rear end of the pawl or stem is attached to a pivoted lever, 9, oneend of whichis linked to an operating-rod, h. This rod extends down tothe bottom of the car, and takes hold of one arm of a bell-crank, 2',which vibrates in a Vertical plane, the other arm of which connects by arod with an arm of another bell-crank,j, which vibrates in a horizontalplane. The other or free arm, k, of the latter crank is or may beprovided with a friction roller or wheel to engage a cam-piece, J,secured to the track or some fixed part, preferably between the rails.These cam-pieces should be arranged so as to operate the annunciator-inwhichever direction the car may be running; but in the case of adouble-track road, where the travel is in but one direction on the sametrack, cams will be provided on each track, arranged to drive theindicator-strip as desired.

I am aware that cams on the track have been used to automaticallyoperate indicators; butin these the upper surface has been relied on toactuate the mechanism through apendent rod. In such a case it is obviousthat the unequal depression of the car body on its springs at differenttimes would seriously affeet the accurate working of the device.

In my arrangement the cam acts through its lateral faces upon theoperating-arm 7c, and moves it in a horizontal plane, so that it is onlynecessary that the cams be high enough to insure the accurate operationof the mechanism.

The operation, so far as described, is as follows: As the car providedwith my annunciator reaches any station or passes any streetorossing,the roller on the arm 70 impinges against the cam-piece J, whichdeflects it to one side or the other, depending upon the direction inwhich it approaches the same. This movement acts, through the cranks ij, rod h, and lever g, to operate the pawl H, and, through it and thewheel G, to rotate the roller 0. This roller, as before stated, feedsthe strip F along until the name of the next succeeding station orstreet appears at the opening 0 in the casing. When the cam-piece J ispassed, a spring, m, (see Fig. 11,) retracts all of the parts andarranges them in their normal positions ready for the next shift. Onreaching the end of the route or any point on the road, the car may berun backward to the bears.

place'of starting, and the stations in bothdi- 'rections will beproperly indicated automatically. Indeed, if the cam-pieces are properlyarranged, the car may be run back and forth over any section of theroad, and the indicators will properlyannounce the stations with outrequiring any alteration of the device. This result is partly due to thedouble cam: shown in Figs. 6 and 7 and the peculiar for-- mation of thepawl and notches in the wheel Gr.

It will also be observed that 011 the vertical spindle of the bell-crankis fixed a planefaced follower, it, against which the spring 111; Thus,when the arm 70 is pushed in either direction by the cam-piece-J, oneend of this follower is caused to press back the spring, and the spring,reacting, returns the parts to their normal positions in whicheverdirection the arm 70 is moved. Though shown as placed beneath the car,the follower and spring, n m, may as well be connected with themechanism at or near the annunciatoncase, if preferred.

To announce the shifting of the strip F to the occupants of the car, Iprovide a bell or gong, K, mounted on or near the case A.

At the same moment that the instrument is operated this gong is soundedby means of the following-described mechanism: L is a hammer, the stemof which has bearings at 0 in the case. On the inner end of theprojecting bearing is fixed a hammer-arm, p, which is a straight piecearranged to rest against a follower, q, hung on a pin in the case. Thisfollower has an arm, r, which projects radially with respect to theroller 0. A spring, 8, keeps the hammer-arm pressed norm ally againstthe follower. The hammer stands close to the gong.

. In the end of the roller 0 are fixed pins u u, arranged to engage thefollower-arm r in whichever direction the roller 0 may be rotated. Thesepins are arranged to correspond with the notches in the wheel G, so thatthe gong will be sounded the moment the strip is shifted. In whicheverdirection the roller 0 is turned, a pin, to, acting upon the arm 1" ofthe follower g, lifts the hammer-arm and draws back the hammer. As theroller moves on the pin escapes from the arm 1" and allows the hammer tostrike the bell a smart blow.

To prevent the roller 0 from rotating too far, a spring, 0;, may bearranged, as shown in Fig. 3, to engage the notches d d and act as anintermittent check.

It is obvious that, in lieu of the pawl-stem 0 being elastic, it may bestiff, and a separate spring be arranged to press it laterally away fromthe wheel Gr.

It will be seen that the arms of the followers n and q'are unequal inlength. The object of this is to compensate for the difference inleverage where they act upon the hammer arm or spring, and to equalizethe power required to operate the instrument in whichever direction thetrain is run.

The precise form of the cam-piece J is not essential so long as itproperly actuates the mechanism. I have shown in plan, Fig. 11, a goodarrangement for the purpose.

I wish it understood that I am aware that station-indicators, so called,provided with annunciators, havebefore been invented and patented; butso far as .1 am aware none of them possess the advantages of the oneherein described.

I claim 1. The means employed to compensate for the varyiu g sizes ofthe rollers D D as the strip is wound on and off the same, and to keepthe said strip stretched, which consists of a frame in which the saidrollers are mounted, pivoted at its center on lugs having hearings inslots or grooves, and suitable springs to keep the frame pressednormally away from the roller 0, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a strip having the names or designations of thestations or crossings marked thereon with a shifting-roller, O, andtake-up rollers D D, the latter connected by a driving-cord, a, or itsequivalent, whereby the roller giving off the strip causes it to betaken up on the other, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the roller (3, strip F, rollers D D, connected andoperating substantially as shown, the pivoted frame E, and the springs11 b, all arranged substantially as set forth.

4. The roller 0, strip F, rollers D D, wheel Gr, provided with notches,substantially as shown, the pawl H, cam I, and a suitable operating-arm,9, all arranged and combined forth.

6. The combination of the cam-piece J, the arm k, the follower n andspring m, and the operating-rods g h, whereby the indicator=strip isshifted, the said rods being connected with the arm 70 through themedium of suitable mechanism, substantially as set forth.

7. The roller 0, provided with a notched plate or wheel, G, at one endand pins a a at the other, a gong or other annunciator, K, arrangedto'be sounded by the rotation of the roller 0, a pawl, H, arranged torotate the roller intermittently in either direction automaticallywithout shiftin g, a strip, F, on which are marked the names of thestations or stoppin g-places, and rollers D D, to carry the strip, allcombined and arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH BUTCHER. Witnesses:

ARTHUR C. FRASER, HENRY GONNETT.

